I am all for better restaurants. Just saying that the closing of Blue Angel leaves a "great breakfast spot" missing from our neighborhood. Also to be fair: if I really wanted something like that I might as well open one myself. Put my money where my mouth is—maybe in that abandoned Car Title Loans/Old Checkers place or the burned out Popeye's/Burger King.

I'm not a "yuppie". I don't really care about trendy places. You can call me a family man, and I definitely see the lack of family restaurants in the area.

I guess I'm surprised that there are so many fake Irish pubs. This Blue Angel is an "Irish Pub" opened by Greeks. There are several Irish Pubs down Northwest Highway. There's that Irish Pub in Edgebrook that also isn't too far away.

What happened to awesome family places where you can get breakfast? Sunday brunch? There are literally none around. The only real option is McDonald's. WTF?

Where's our Original Pancake house? Walker Brother's type thing? There is none. I didn't think Blue Angel was that great. However, we are losing the one "breakfast" place around.

October 11, 2011

September 19, 2011

Jaxx, it is totally easy to miss! That's why I suggested to the owner to pump up the signage (in an elegant way not a crappy one). The food is decent, but my neighborhood (Forest Glen) is such a restaurant desert that I really want this place to succeed...

I am really pulling for these guys. I had a chat with the owner yesterday. His partner withdrew, so he's all on his own. They just put up that writing on the windows. I am not a big fan of that (looks unprofessional and blocks the light coming into the restaurant). I suggested he add some other type of signage on the roof that says "tacos, burritos, tostadas, Mexican home cooking". Superdawg like signage/neon/or something around the border of the restaurant. It seemed like he appreciated the feedback.

I'm really worried that they'll close down and we'll have another empty storefront....

September 6, 2011

OK just an update. A technician came out this morning and checked my line signal. He said everything was good. He also gave me the updated DOCSIS 3.0 modem which he said would be better. Unfortunately, it seems about the same. Unpredictably slow at times. :P

Eric, Thanks for the advice on CLEAR. I spoke to Comcast and they are coming to swap out my DOCSIS 2.0 modem with a DOCSIS 3.0 modem. This is no additional charge. If any of you are having issues maybe you can also request a new modem.

September 5, 2011

I've called their customer service and they keep blaming my wireless setup. I have Macs too. It used to be dependably fast. The thing that sucks is if someone comes out and cant find a problem then I have to pay for the service call. :P

August 5, 2011

I had dinner at the Chicken and Taco Place tonight with my daughter. They are very nice. Just a good taqueria. Nothing spectacular, nothing horrible. The best thing about it is it is less than a block from my house and they have seating. AND they accept credit cards.

July 14, 2011

July 6, 2011

My daughter went to kindergarten at Beaubien. We are very happy with the school. I believe their office is open during the summer. You can call them directly http://www.beaubien.cps.k12.il.us/

I can't remember when we received information about the classes (my daughter is entering 2nd grade this coming year). One thing to keep in mind is the hours are very short. I think Kindergarten is only 2.5 or 3 hours long. If it isn't that short, it isn't much longer. The classes are split into AM and PM.

May 2, 2011

There are some nice parks and Forest Preserves. Check out Gompers Park near Pulaski and Foster. There's a nice lagoon. There's also North Park University on Foster near Kimball. Forest Preserves nearby are Labagh Woods.

April 14, 2011

April 11, 2011

SemperSpero, I've heard about this redrawing of the Wards. Is this final? I also heard that 22 or so aldermen will be cut. Not sure how that works given that we just had an election. Do you know where we can find out this news?

"$25,000 for a recount"? It'd cost that much really? I thought since everything is electronic (even those big cards) that it'd be pretty easy to do. $25,000 is a lot of money! I'll count those ballots for that.

April 6, 2011

LGTH, Yes she started in Kindergarten with Miss Jops (very happy with her) and is now in 1st grade with Ms. Sineni (very happy with her too). If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them on a different thread or if my email is visible on my profile page (?) please do get in touch.

April 4, 2011

Susan, regarding your dirt alley (wow!) you and your neighbors can contact Levar. We live on Foster and a bunch of cars were using our alley as a shortcut. My wife and I were worried about our kids getting mowed down by speeding cars in the alley.

We got in touch with Levar to inquire about speedbumps. His office said that we needed to get signatures from everyone on our block. We needed 80% of them to agree to speedbumps. We got the speedbumps and a sign for "Children Playing" at both ends of the alley. I was actually surprised how easy it was!

April 1, 2011

In any event, voters in the 45th face a unique dilemma. Whereas most voters in Chicago have to hold their nose and pick the worse of two evils, folks in the 45th Ward have to decide between two genuine reformers...

On most issues, the two Johns—uh, maybe it's not a good idea to refer to them like that—see eye to eye. They both denounce Mayor Daley's TIF scam of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Both call on the city to put more cops on the local beat, and both promise to open up discretionary spending to community suggestions....

If Arena has a specialty, it's economic development. A native of Aurora, he moved to the area in 2000 from Lakeview, set up a graphic arts business with his wife, joined the Portage Park Neighbors Association, and got involved with economic development issues.

For years he's been calling me and other reporters pleading for coverage about their ongoing effort to recruit business and fill the empty storefronts along Milwaukee Avenue near the six-corner intersection of Milwaukee, Cicero, and Irving Park....

Ordinarily, I'd be happy to support Arena—but for several reasons my heart's with Garrido, a 39-year-old lieutenant in the police department who was born and raised in the community.

He reminds me of a lot of northwest-side cops and firefighters I've met over the years—they're sick and tired of the waste, clout, and corruption they see every day. Get them to talk over a few beers off the record and they sound like the second coming of Dick Simpson.

Over the summer I met Garrido by chance and he helped me pick apart the police department budget, figuring out where the fat's buried and how it can be trimmed in order to get more cops on the beat. I'd like him on the council if for no other reason than to watch him grill the police brass during budget hearings....

March 31, 2011

Edison Park, Lincoln Square, Andersonville are some neighborhoods that come to mind. All have main streets going through with good single family housing and apartment buildings around. These neighborhoods weren't too "cool" 15-20 years ago.

March 25, 2011

Thanks everyone for chiming in. Like I said, we take ours to the enormous blue dumpsters near Superdawg (in the forest preserve). It's OK, but the containers get filled so fast. Sometimes it looks like a real dump there with cardboard boxes and bottles overflowing.

I think both of the candidates for Alderman want to bring recycling here. I just don't completely understand how the system works.

March 23, 2011

FYI, I started getting worried about the 45th Ward Aldermanic race. I contacted John Arena to see what he thinks about business at Six Corners. Here's what he said:

Jamie

Thank you for contacting me. I have worked to BRING business to Six Corners. The Klee has retail on the first floor because of the efforts of the PPNA and my involvement. We petitioned the city to issue a request for proposal to multiple developers after a back-room deal resulted in a plan with no retail and 122 unit dud. The result is a 64 unit building with 19,500 sq. ft. of retail.

The developer (who received $7 million in direct and indirect subsides) and some investors seeking to flip their units in a bad market are propagating the story I am anti business. Because they want to get at more TIF money.

I live 4 blocks form Six Corners. Worked for 10 years to revitalize the area with little or no support from the current alderman. I sat on the streetscape steering committee. hundreds of hours of meetings. Why would I be anti business.

We need a clear and rational voice to move this ward forward and I will be that voice.

We will have two new groceries open in the next four years. New businesses are already coming to Six Corners and good sustainable development will happen at Jeff Park Station and north Milwaukee Ave.

There is not magic wand to make this happen. Hard work and understanding of our communities will do it. I am the candidate that has that track record. We will get it done.

Thank you and I hope to count on your vote. If you have any questions please call me at my office 773-685-1099.

Thank you for contacting me. I have worked to BRING business to Six Corners. The Klee has retail on the first floor because of the efforts of the PPNA and my involvement. We petitioned the city to issue a request for proposal to multiple developers after a back-room deal resulted in a plan with no retail and 122 unit dud. The result is a 64 unit building with 19,500 sq. ft. of retail.

The developer (who received $7 million in direct and indirect subsides) and some investors seeking to flip their units in a bad market are propagating the story I am anti business. Because they want to get at more TIF money.

I live 4 blocks form Six Corners. Worked for 10 years to revitalize the area with little or no support from the current alderman. I sat on the streetscape steering committee. hundreds of hours of meetings. Why would I be anti business.

We need a clear and rational voice to move this ward forward and I will be that voice.

We will have two new groceries open in the next four years. New businesses are already coming to Six Corners and good sustainable development will happen at Jeff Park Station and north Milwaukee Ave.

There is not magic wand to make this happen. Hard work and understanding of our communities will do it. I am the candidate that has that track record. We will get it done.

Thank you and I hope to count on your vote. If you have any questions please call me at my office 773-685-1099.

March 22, 2011

Say it ain't so guys! Off topic, but somewhat related. I live near 3 empty lots, a burned out storefront, and a car title loan place. Why do businesses continue to ignore us? I spend my money in Skokie or Park Ridge. I'd rather spend it on the Northwest Side.

My neighborhood is very pro-Garrido. I met him on Sunday and thought he was a nice guy.

Arena seems like someone that understands the business needs of our Ward. It drives me nuts that our neighborhood is like a wasteland. We drive to Skokie to spend our money (Target/Costco).

I care about an Alderman that will attract business to our Ward. We can have a thriving neighborhood like Edison Park. I'm not sure why our Ward is filled with empty lots, burned ou storefronts, and car title loan shops.